The moon was bright with few stars. The willow trees planted in the Earl’s Manor had all sprouted, gradually showing green branches. When the evening breeze blew, it felt especially refreshing. The scenery was delightful to behold, yet in the Second Branch’s main hall, all the maids and matrons wore stern faces, moving carefully and quietly on tiptoe, afraid of making Second Madam even angrier.
The candlelight inside flickered, gradually growing weaker, making the entire room dim and dark.
Su Xin lowered her head and carefully removed the glass lamp shade, using scissors to trim the candle wick. Only then did the room brighten considerably.
Nanny Yu was holding a set of eighteen blue and white porcelain bowls from Daguan Kiln, serving Li Shi bird’s nest porridge, while smiling and trying to cheer her up: “In any case, Master will return the day after tomorrow. Please be happier, Madam.”
Hearing Song Yi mentioned, the murderous air on Li Shi’s face softened considerably. She waved her hand, indicating for Nanny Yu to remove the bowl, then squinted her eyes at the trembling Huang Yao waiting to the side and asked softly: “You just said that Sixth Miss punished Hong Yu and Luyi?”
Huang Yao quickly nodded, then related everything to Li Shi in minute detail. At the end, she said with some concern: “Sixth Miss seems… seems different from before.”
Nanny Yu didn’t take this matter seriously in her heart—a seven-year-old little girl, no matter how different, how different could she really be?
But Li Shi’s thoughts stirred. “Oh? Different in what way?” she asked.
Huang Yao carefully thought through her words in her mind before slowly saying: “Sixth Miss… a few days ago, just after leaving Old Madam’s quarters, she turned around and went to the ancestral hall.”
The ancestral hall? To kneel before her birth mother?
Li Shi’s brows furrowed even tighter. She immediately pulled a long face, and only after quite a while did she laugh coldly: “Sure enough, those not born to you can never be tamed. Haven’t I treated her well enough? Yet she turns around and goes to her birth mother to complain about her grievances.”
Nanny Yu was also extremely puzzled: “Logically speaking, this truly isn’t like her at all. Since you entered the household, you’ve kept her by your side to raise. Over these past few years, watching coldly, she truly treats you as her birth mother…” Thinking this through, Nanny Yu’s face turned cold as she looked at Huang Yao and snorted: “Could it be that one of you said something in front of her?”
“No, no!” Huang Yao was so frightened her face turned pale. She quickly waved her hands in denial: “How would this servant dare?! Usually I avoid it as much as possible—how would I dare bring this up with Sixth Miss? However, I’m not the only one serving close to Sixth Miss. Luyi also follows closely, and she’s Nanny Xu’s daughter. They’re originally from the Cui family, so perhaps they said something—who knows?”
After a pause, as if remembering something, Huang Yao quickly straightened up and added: “Oh yes, that day at Old Madam’s quarters, Sixth Miss was also very strange. If it had been her usual temperament, she would have made a scene long ago. But that day, even though Third Madam reprimanded her in front of so many people, she didn’t make a sound and even apologized to Old Madam and Third Madam herself.”
“Nanny, you hunt geese all day long, yet now a goose has pecked out your eye, hasn’t it?” Li Shi smiled mockingly. “I said long ago that Nanny Xu by her side couldn’t be kept. After all, she was brought from her maiden home by Cui Shi—perhaps she knows something. Even if she doesn’t know about our past affairs, leaving someone who followed Cui Shi for over twenty years by her side will sooner or later lead her astray. But you wouldn’t listen, Nanny. Now that we’ve kept her around, I’m afraid we’ve cultivated a disaster.”
Nanny Yu was also completely baffled, her face bitter with evident confusion: “But that Nanny Xu has been by her side these five years without any effect—why would she suddenly have an effect just these past few days…”
Li Shi leaned lazily against the soft pillow, supporting her chin with her hand. “Right now, never mind when this trouble started. Master is about to bring back another big problem along with him. We surely can’t create two problems for ourselves, can we?”
“Then you mean…?” Nanny Yu glanced at Huang Yao kneeling on the floor and said hesitantly: “Old Madam’s eyes are sharp. Even though you’ve served her diligently and attentively these past years, she’s still been indifferent. If you were to do something to Sixth Miss…”
Su Zhi was the cleverest. Hearing them talk about such matters, she quickly bent forward and beckoned to Huang Yao. Huang Yao was momentarily stunned, then immediately realized that what came next wasn’t for her to hear. She quietly lifted the curtain and went out with Su Zhi and Su Xin.
“So what if her eyes are sharp? The effort I’ve put in these five years is more than enough. Even Master can’t find a single fault with me. This time those maids and matrons didn’t serve her well, causing this Sixth Miss to suffer. For her sake, I’m replacing them with better maids and matrons to attend her. Could Old Madam and Master possibly eat me alive?” Li Shi laughed lightly, her face full of disdain and disgust, then continued: “Besides, I’m in no hurry to deal with her. Once we leave this Earl’s Manor and go to Master’s posting, the sky will be high and the emperor far away—who can control how I treat her? Do you really think I can’t endure, Nanny?”
What we fear is precisely that Your Ladyship can’t endure! Nanny Yu sighed inwardly while also feeling relieved. Hearing this, she nodded in agreement: “That’s true. Nanny Xu is Sixth Miss’s wet nurse, yet she serves Sixth Miss without the slightest dedication. Madam should indeed deal with them. But now we’re approaching the New Year—isn’t it somewhat improper to deal with them now?”
Great families placed extreme importance on the New Year celebrations and rarely punished servants at this time.
“That’s precisely why we must deal with them now, to prevent more trouble when Master returns.” Li Shi rubbed her forehead, feeling a bit of a headache coming on. “These two troubles really can’t be shaken off—just thinking about them gives me a headache. Once Master returns, that Nanny Xu will cry in front of him, and who knows, it might make him remember Cui Shi’s good points again. That Nanny Xu is skilled at using the dead to make trouble for the living. If she hadn’t cried and wailed before Master, making him personally beg Old Madam, how could Brother Yan have been sent to his maternal grandfather’s home to be raised for a year? There’s no such logic anywhere!”
It was precisely because of this matter that Li Shi’s heart was utterly fed up with Nanny Xu, finding her even more disagreeable than Song Chuyi.
Given her temperament, being able to tolerate Nanny Xu for so long was truly difficult for her. Moreover, right now Nanny Xu had indeed failed in her duties regarding Song Chuyi’s injury. Dealing with her now, no one could say anything against it. Nanny Yu thought it over and nodded: “What Madam says is right. But what if Sixth Miss makes a scene?”